Inclusive swimming lessons boost safety and confidence for Black youth

Black youth in the United States disproportionately experience fatal drowning at rates up to five times higher than their White peers. These statistics relate to historical and structural barriers Black youth face in learning to swim. In efforts to overcome these inequities, an innovative summer swimming program in Evanston, IL, was offered to Black kids entering third through fifth grades. After the three-week program, participants demonstrated significant improvement in objective and parental-reported swim skills, according to an evaluation study published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education.

"Swimming is more than a sport. It is a life skill and a safety skill that every person deserves to learn," said senior author Michelle Macy, MD, MS, Scientific Director, Community, Population Health, and Outcomes, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"This local program showed acquisition of swim skills in an environment that fostered inclusion and empowerment for Black youth, a group that suffers some of the highest rates of fatal drowning nationally," she added. "By focusing on 8-to-10-year-olds, the program filled a critical gap for these kids who didn't have opportunities to learn to swim at younger ages."

This study was conducted in partnership with Kuumba Evanston, a community-based organization whose mission is to serve families of color that have been marginalized by systemic racism.

The swimming program consisted of eight 60-minute sessions over three weeks. The study evaluated outcomes over two summers. A total of 64 youth participated – 38 completed all three weeks in 2023 and 36 completed all three weeks in 2024.

Instructors and parents shared common views of the program, citing the greatest success stemming from the sense of belonging in the swimming world, which was created by being surrounded by other Black youth who were also building confidence in the water and gaining swimming skills.

"Building trust and confidence with each swimmer and family was crucial," said Andy Miner, Swimming Program Director and co-author on the study. "Once we created an environment where the kids knew they belonged and felt themselves growing and learning in the water, the results began to compound. The culture shifted from surviving in the water to thriving."

Another indicator of success for this program was the high retention rate with 10 children returning for a second summer and only one participant dropping out of the program.

"Potential reasons for the high retention rate include supportive instructors and offering instruction in a group setting where all participants were members of the same racial group, a group that has historically been excluded from swimming spaces," said Dr. Macy.

The study team has shared findings with the Water Safety Task Force of Metro Chicago, which includes Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, DuPage County Health Department and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. These results will also be used in the development of the Water Safety Plan for the State of Illinois.

"These groups and other communities can integrate our observations into new approaches to advance equity, increase a sense of belonging in aquatic spaces, and improve access to swim instruction in communities of color," said Dr. Macy.

Dr. Macy holds the Mary Ann and J. Milburn Smith Research Professorship for the Director of Child Health Research at Lurie Children's.

The study was funded through a grant from the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.